L-seat covers

[Bitsyncmaster]

lol...that will work.
FWIW, I wouldn't use copper...It doesn't like vibration.

Just in case- For long/tight curved runs, you can pinch the wire a few inches behind the bead and push the fabric past it. Then pinch the bead and work the slack on down.

Got the 14 gauge wire into the bottom seat cover. That job is pretty easy if you put the wire in before you put the cover on the seat. That way when you get to a curve you just hold the curve of the cover area straight, push in the wire and than bend it later. I straighten the wire bending it mostly straight, cut it a little longer than you need, lightly grind the sharp edge from the cut of one end then insert the wire. I bought a 200 foot spool and they have shorter and longer lengths but the larger spools will be less work to straighten.

This 14 gauge is probably way overkill. Maybe a plastic welt may be easier or 17 gauge steel wire.

[Totally 80s]

Would you buy these seat covers again or go for the better quality more expensive ones? I'm gonna need covers soon and I worry about all the extra work involved on the cheaper covers.

[FABombjoy]

Would you buy these seat covers again or go for the better quality more expensive ones? I'm gonna need covers soon and I worry about all the extra work involved on the cheaper covers.

These covers are like building a model kit. The end result is much more than just the assembly of it, but applying a critical eye throughout the process.

I posted some of my own experiences with the L-seat covers, along with a few modifications I had to make to the seat bottom so it would clear portions of the frame correctly:
http://dmctalk.org/showthread.php?17...at-ventilation

I've still only done one seat still but will be tackling the second seat soon.
Planned changes for seat #2:
-Resew the seat bottom pockets that hold the 2 metal bars that shape the bolsters. The bars sit too far down and you can't cinch the cover far enough down for my liking. Raising the bar closer to the leather should fix this.
-Pre-install shaped 1/2 round molding to the seat back "little neck roll" under the headrest. Your head & neck never touch that spot and I can't see any reason why it can't be solid. It bugs me when that feature isn't correct and it's very hard to get correct with new covers, even seemingly the "good" ones.
-Seat back leather needs to be pulled tight enough so that the piping sits slightly proud of the backer board, the side that faces the seat. The piping looks "lazy" once the backer is installed if the cover is squared up to the edge. I'll fix this one in-situ on the first seat since it's an easy job.

Anyway, back to Dave's experiences

[Bitsyncmaster]

Would you buy these seat covers again or go for the better quality more expensive ones? I'm gonna need covers soon and I worry about all the extra work involved on the cheaper covers.

It looks like L-seat copied the original covers with the exception of the back flap of the bottom seat it is sewn on and original was one piece. I compared the back cover where I had the fit problem with the original and the original looks like they cut a little of that flap on the side where the adjuster is. I plan to do the next seat a little different in that I will hog ring the bottom right after I do the head rest bars (those have to be done first) and pull it lower than I did on the first seat.

I'm not sure if anyone else had modified their covers to cure that problem I had. Or if others include welt inserts with their covers.

L-seat also includes the cover for the back board. It looks like the original those are stabled on so I'm not sure how I will do those. The staples would have to be very short since the board is very thin.

[painterdave72]

when i recovered my rear seat boards.. i just used shorter staples for my staple gun like they did.. works great..

[Bitsyncmaster]

Here is the same problem doing the seat around that adjuster. The seat covers are cut different than stock. Stock has that flap shorter but the L-seat that flap is long and I can't for the life of me find a way to get it to fit. There is a plastic cover around that area but this is a problem with the L-seat covers. Would be interesting to see how other vendors covers are fitting.

[Bitsyncmaster]

I found out why I had such a problem with those lower flaps. I was running them over the outside of the hinge but looking at the other seat with OEM cover, the flaps go inside the hinge. Now I have that large area of exposed foam. There is some exposed on the OEM covered seat but not as much as I have on the L-seat cover. It would be hard to see when the seats are in the car though. I found this doing the seat bottom which also runs those flaps inside the hinge. Those flaps don't get pulled much and you have to make some cuts in bottom skin to get them pulled.

Edit: photo how it came out fixed.

[Bitsyncmaster]

I feel much better about the L-seat covers now that I fixed my dumb mistake. Still have to hog ring the bottom which is looking to big (not stretched enough) at first.

[Bitsyncmaster]

Finished the bottom. There was not much pulling to get the hog rings on. Just a little pull at the back side (which I did first). None else where. Not sure if the covers were sewn a little smaller if the job would come out better (tighter) or if my foam had compressed over the years. I used the old plastic flat washers to hold the six ti-wraps. My ti-wraps would not hold if I pulled really hard and I put two of them on to help but that did not make the hold either. I put some hot glue on the end in hopes it helps. I used some freeze spray to speed up the hot glue setting.

The end flaps don't get hog ringed anywhere so you just make some cuts if a support "spring" is in the way and pull the flaps enough to look good.

[Bitsyncmaster]

Drivers seat is done and installed back in the car. Looks very nice. Working the tilt knob feel a little tight. I think the tightness of the nut that holds the knob on determines how easy or hard it is to turn. Also, should the seat belt rotate around the bolt? Not sure if I put that back in the way it came out. The passenger side does not rotate either but I did have that one out also before when I did my fuse box.

I just put the old back board back on for now but nothing is wrong with it anyway. I need to find some really short staples and the gun to use them.

I also need to order some more hog rings before I do the other seat. I had 200 but I think I have less then 100 to go.

One thing I found to help installing the hog rings was to give it a little bend before putting onto the skin and locking rod.